Duke  University   Libraries 

(T)o  the  farmer 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #419 

DTTDMMfibO/ 


0  r  HE  FARMERS  RESIDING  IN  THE    VICINITY    OF    THE 

VIRGINIA  CENTRAL  RAILROAD. 
The  imperative  necessities  of  the  war  have  deprived  the  Company  of  the 
usual  supply  of  wood  for  the  locomotives  and  cross-ties  for  repairing  the 
Road,  which  have  heretofore  have  been  furnished  by  contractors.  Having 
now,  to  a  great  extent,  to  do  what  formerly  was  done  by  contractors,  there 
is  a  demand  for  labor  which  the  Company  cannot  supply  without  your 
assistance. 

Since  the  war  commenced  this  Company  has  almost  lost  its  character  as 
a  private  corporation,  and  may  be  regarded  as  an  arm  of  public  defence, 
and  the  Directors  have  conducted  its  operations  as  informal  agents  of  the 
Government,  receiving  little  or  no  aid,  but  having  its  resources  crippled  by 
the  Government  itself.  I  do  not  censure  the  Government,  but  I  wish  you 
to  know  the  true  state  of  facts.  In  the  existing  state  of  thiugs  you  alone 
can  furnish  the  aid  required.  The  labor  we  need  to  put  the  Road  in  safe 
working  order  cannot  be  obtained  from  any  other  resources  than  that  which 
I  think  it  is  your  interest  to  spare  from  your  farms.  Of  surplus  labor, 
seeking  hire,  there  is  none. 

1  appeal  to  you  not  in  behalf  of  the  Company,  but  to  your  own  interests 

and  that  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

<         Will  yon  stand  aloof  at  this  time  and  leave  the  Company  to  try  to  strug- 

gleHhrpii^n  difficulties  it  has  no  power  to  qxercome\  Will  you  incur  the 

danger \f  this.  Rp^d  nob  behu^able   to  do  fte> ttafisr»ctati    *    .  ;ry  to 

vL  maintain  the  .'    .  te  abandonment  of  the  seel    y   **        mtr}' 

£   in  v/ja'ich  •?'   1  aeedVrot  undertake  to  eulighten  you  as*  to  your 

^   fate  if  our  Army  is  compelled  to  fall  back  and  the  enemy   t  -sion. 

S    Will  it  then  be  any  source  of  pleasure  to  think  of  the  5  employed 

JJ    in  draining  your  lands,  clearing  off  shrubbery,  and  dressing  up  waste  places, 

<*J    as  many  do,  in  ordinary  times,  more  for  ornament  than  profit  ? 

frv I  submit,  this  matter  \<>  your  good  sense  and  judgment.     I   do   not  ask 

i lyoiTto  neglect  the*Vio>liwy  of  any  crops — all  these  are  required   to  sustain 
,the  Amiv  ;.  but,  as.a  practical  farmer,  [  know  many  things  may  be  omitted 
which  mwally  ur  hands,  aud  enable  you  to  spare  some  labor  for 

tfie"rema^ndef,<»Trthis  yvsar.v  If  you  were  to  send  us  aid  gratuitously  you 
would  promote  ydur  interests;  but  I  do  not  ask  that — I  will  pay  a  high 
price.  I  Willie  FORTY  DOLLARS  per  month  for  twenty-six  working 
days  for  good  laborers  and  find  provisio^'*'*'  \* 

1  commend  this  subject  to  your  serious  consideration.  You  may  think 
the  proper  officers  might  have  hired  more  labor  in  the  beginning  of  the 
year,  but  it  is  vain  to  discuss  that  question  no«y.  There  was  great  difficulty 
then  in  obtaining  hands,  and  those  officers  acted  according  to  the  1> 
their  judgment.  The  fact  stares  you  in  the  face  that  the  Company  needs 
a  large  number  of  hands.     You  all  ha^tbem,  and  they  are  to  be  emp 

not  for  the  benefit  of  the  Stockholders  as  a  corporation  so  much  as  for  your 
own  interests,  being  citizens  occupying  a  section  of  country  which  cannot 
be  defended  unless  the  Road  is-put  in  good  order.  .  V 

E.  FONTAINE,  President. 

Office  Va.  Central  Railroad, 
September  2,  1863. 

P.  S.  Persons  sending  hands  will  report  to  me  at  Beaverdam  Depot,  or 
W.  G.  Richardson,  Road  Master,  at  Frederick's  Hall ;  and,  in  any  case,  we 
would  be  glad  that  each  hand  should  bring  a  good  axe.  I  hops  to  get 
prompt  responses  and  at  least  one  hundred  hands. 

MMMlMMi 


&*/-*? 


--—-■/     '*7? 


^1* 


«~~? 


? 


?/ 


0^  ^**: 


__ 


^,.^Q-^:  I 


peRnulife* 
pH8.5 


